Searching for Answers and Perfect Kisses
by Wolfsaint
Summary: This is a one shot about Cloud and an OC of mine. Elaina searches for answers to questions that remain a mystery, and Cloud remains faithful and strong, a pillar of support in her darkest moments.  I suck at summaries  R&R please!


_So, this is just a little oneshot about Cloud Strife and an OC of mine, Elaina Hawkschild. It's just supposed to be a little romantic moment between the two of them. This is my first FF VII fanfic so if you would be kind enough to review and give some constructive criticism, that would be fantastic. Enjoy_

Cloud couldn't feel Elaina beside him when he woke that morning. She was never there in the bed when he did. But it was alright. He knew that she needed the quiet, still hours of the morning to think about…things. He also knew exactly where to find her.

Running a hand through his white-blonde hair, he twisted around to put his feet on the marble floor of their bedroom. A slight shudder rippled its way up his spine at the icy chill of the stone. He looked up and sure enough, she was there on the balcony, staring out at who knows what.

Cloud's feet made a tiny slapping sound as he padded out to where she was standing, not bothering to put on a shirt. As always, he marveled at the sheer beauty of the woman he was proud to call his. With her back to him, he got an excellent view of her russet colored hawk's wings. They gently emerged from just below where her neck met her shoulders and cascaded majestically down to her ankles like some kind of magnificent cape. Her feathers, soft as a kitten's fur, seemed to be begging him to touch them.

So he did.

She jerked, ever so slightly in surprise at his gentle touch. She didn't turn, and she said nothing, just continued to stare into the open air.

To anyone seeing her for the first time or even after knowing her for a year or so, she looked calm, serene, tranquil, at peace. But to those who had known her as long as Cloud had, the struggle raging behind her glittering emerald eyes was evident. The way they shifted from pinpoint to pinpoint told him just how anxious she really was. Her eyes never rested on any one spot for more than a second but hopped around as if she were searching for answers written in the contours of the mountains that surrounded the little valley. She seemed to be waiting for the trees and the wind itself to whisper solutions to her like prophecies. Every tiny motion belied the true depths of her inner battles. She tried desperately to fight the memories back, and to hold on to them at the same time.

For a time that seemed to last hours instead of minutes, Cloud simply stood, silent and patient, behind Elaina. She didn't move. The only sign of the fact that she had not petrified was the wind picking up strands of her hair, the same color as her wings, and tugging gently on them. The silence was deafening. Just when Cloud was sure he could stand it no longer, she spoke.

"Did I wake you?" The musical quality of her voice was perhaps the most glorious sound he had ever heard.

"No." Cloud said sweetly. "How long have you been out here?"

"Only a few minutes." With that she finally turned to face him, and his breath caught in his throat. How had a creature so beautiful, so utterly perfect, ever come to belong to him? How could this angel ever have fallen for a backwater boy like himself? He still had no idea. All he really knew was that it had happened, and that she was his.

Her emerald eyes sparkled with spirit and pride not yet smothered under the burden she had borne since the Ordeal had ended. Her high cheekbones, perfect nose and full lips could not draw his attention away from her magnificent eyes. Glittering oceans of green so deep, Cloud felt as if he would drown in them if he stared too long. That didn't stop him from staring.

Finally, he managed to find his voice again. "Why don't we get some breakfast?" He asked. He stopped breathing completely when she smiled.

"That sounds lovely." All shadows in her features and in her eyes vanished as he drew her into him, wrapped her in his arms and pressed his lips, gently but urgently to hers. Elaina's arms snaked around him, one hand pressed to the small of his back to bring him impossibly closer, the other reached up to cup the back of his head. Their lips moved together in perfect harmony for several long, glorious moments before they both had to pull away to breathe.

So evenly matched were they that with their eyes closed, they both said at exactly the same moment,

I love you.


End file.
